If area athletes had been playing baseball instead of running, jumping and throwing at Wednesday's 22nd annual Skyland Conference track and field championships, they'd have left the diamond covered with extra base hits.

For doubles and triples abounded for locals.

Voorhees' Harry Brakewood and Clarissa Modde went for difficult distance doubles, reaching half of their goals. Delaware Valley's Sara Gardner doubled up on school records. Phillipsburg's Jon Harper pulled off a rare scholar-athlete double, and his teammate Anthony Guarino doubled his personal best en route to triple jump gold. For good measure, Franklin doubled up on both team titles with ease.

And then there was North Hunterdon's Morgan Harvey, who pulled off an astonishing triple that deserved to be called home run of the day.

Harvey, a sophomore, stormed to victory in the 200- and 400-meter dashes and the 400 intermediate hurdles for a difficult triple against top-shelf foes that she finished off with a flourish in her last race, the final of the 200.

Then, after winning the 400 and the hurdles in style, Harvey found enough left to fight past Franklin's Danielle Delgado -- who had earlier won the high hurdles in 14.71 seconds but had been edged in the 400 hurdles by Harvey -- in the last 30 meters to win in 25.54 to Delgado's 25.89.

"I didn't think I was going to win that race like that," Harvey said. "Actually, I don't like the 200. I thought I'd be really tired in that race after having won the two 400s, but I was just a little bit tired."

Maybe some extra rest gave Harvey a little extra.

"I got to sleep in today because we had testing at school, so I slept until 8 a.m.," said the Union Township resident. "In the last 50 meters I had enough left because of all the hard work I put in in practice."

Harvey's winning time of 1:02.54 in the intermediate hurdles -- her favorite event -- stands as the No. 3 all-time best time in The Express-Times region.

"All I wanted to do was run under (1:04) and get my personal best in everything," Harvey said. "I had no idea I'd win all these events."

North Hunterdon coach Sean Walsh did.

"Morgan hates to lose," Walsh said. "Because of the way she works and the way she puts her heart into it she has success like today."

The day's most impressive two-bagger may have belonged to Harper -- "the academic-athletic double," as he put it.

The Stateliners senior completed an AP statistics exam that cost him a chance to renew his rivalry with Brakewood in the 1,600, and the Vikings senior took that gold in 4:19.85.

"I was really hoping I could run the 1,600 but I had the AP test and I couldn't get here until 4 p.m. (the 1,600 started around 2:45 p.m.)," said Harper, who will attend Columbia University. "School comes first; this was just a bonus. I think I did better on the test than I did here."

If so, Harper surely aced the test -- since he crushed the field in the 3,200. He was never really challenged, romping home in a meet-record 9:19.09.

"I had an awful race at the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex meet (Saturday) and it bothered me all week," Harper said. "I was hurt in cross country and had an awful conference meet and that may have given people false confidence that they could beat me. This postseason is all about redemption. In these meets at the end of the season, from here on out it's all about getting the 'W.'"

Brakewood, fifth in the 3,200, earned his 'W' in the 1,600 despite committing a usually mortal sin -- looking back -- down the stretch as he pulled away from the field with a powerful, purposeful close.

"I took a risk and made my move with 150 meters to go, taking a chance no one would run me down in the last 75," the Bucknell-boundBrakewood said. "Normally, I never look back, but I did today and there was nobody coming. I was happy with how I raced. We ran the last 800 in 2:05; we were really moving. I was looking back because I wanted to win but still having something left for the 3,200. In the 3,200, Jon got me -- he's gotten me a bunch of times, I've gotten him some, we have a respectful rivalry -- and I'll learn from it."

Speaking of learning, few have learned faster than Guarino, a Stateliners freshman who had never tripled jumped before March. On Wednesday, he broke a long Phillipsburg drought in the jumps by winning the league in 43-10.

"I had already gotten my personal best on the first jump in the round," said Guarino, who entered with a best of 42-4 1/2 and then jumped 42-11 to start Wednesday. "Then, I got 43-10 on the first jump of the final round. I can tell if I a jump is going to be good halfway through. If I hit my first jump I know it'll be good. I just have to finish it."

Guarino now has his eyes set on the school record (44-6 1/2) before he finishes a remarkable debut season.

"I got a lot better than I thought I would," he said. "I need my technique to stay good and work on the second and third jumps. I think I can get the record."

He could ask Gardner for advice on school records as the Terriers sophomore set two school marks Wednesday -- 5-4 in the high jump and 15.07 in the high hurdles trials. She finished second in both events.

"It's the best day ever for me," Gardner said. "In the high jump, I jumped, landed in the pit and watched the bar, and I was so glad it didn't fall."

Voorhees' Modde, a sophomore, didn't fall under pressure as she ran an efficient 3,200 that saw her defeat, one by one, the final pack that hung with her. First, she left Pingry's Kate Lieb behind, then Gill-St. Bernard's Sarah Quinn, then finally Phillipsburg's Meghan Carroll to win in 11:00.49.

"I knew Sarah would be right there and I knew Meghan would be tough," Modde said. "I felt pretty good even after running the mile (she was eighth in 5:09.76). I was a little bit surprised I had so much left, and my time was pretty good."

Other local winners included North Hunterdon's Alissa Tarsi in the shot put (37-6) and the Lions' Nicholas Skelton in the high jump (6-4).

22nd annual Skyland Conference Track and Field Championships

The
results of the 22nd annual Skyland Conference Championships held
Wednesday at David Noonan Field on the campus of Hillsborough High
School.